Call Me Back - with Dan Senor

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In a few months elections will be held in Israel, the first since Oct. 7th, and arguably one of the most consequential in Israel’s history. But how do the elections actually work in Israel?

As part of our Israel Votes series, Dan is joined by Amit Segal and Nadav Eyal for a practical guide to the mechanics behind Israeli democracy: the Knesset, coalition-building, electoral thresholds, and the structural realities that will shape the next election long before a single vote is counted.

In this episode:

- Why Israel Chose a Parliamentary System

- The Knesset, the Government, and the Courts

- How Votes Become Knesset Seats

- How Israel Actually Chooses a Prime Minister

- Coalition Negotiations and the Fight Over Ministries

- What Caused Israel's Five-Election Deadlock?

- What Election Night Looks Like in Israel

- Does Israel End Election Night With a Governing Majority?

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Dan Senor & Saul Singer’s book, The Genius of Israel

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Credits: Ilan Benatar, Brittany Cohen, Ava Weiner, Martin Huergo, Mariangeles Burgos, and Yuval Semo

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Why has the world become so fixated on Zionism, and what does that obsession actually reveal about the West?

Alana Newhouse joins Dan Senor to unpack her widely debated essay Zionism for Everyone. They explore how rapid technological change and cultural disorientation are colliding with an ancient idea of peoplehood and why that tension is showing up in the global conversation about Israel.

Newhouse argues that the fixation on Zionism is not really about Israel at its core, but about something missing in modern societies: identity, purpose, and self-determination. She lays out a provocative framework for what makes societies resilient, why some nations are struggling, and whether the model behind Zionism can be applied far beyond Israel.

Read Alana’s essay in The Free Press, Zionism for Everyone here. 

In this episode:

- The collision between rapid technological change and ancient identity debates

- Why Zionism has become a global fixation right now

- What “ethnos” really means and why it’s being misunderstood

- Zionism as a model: identity, vision, and hard work

- What went wrong in the West and the limits of globalization

- Is anti-Zionism driven by envy or a loss of self-determination?

- The four traits of resilient societies

- Can this model be applied beyond Israel, and by whom?

- The erosion of peoplehood in the modern West

More Ark Media:

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Explore Israel Votes

Listen to For Heaven's Sake

Listen to What’s Your Number?

Watch Call me Back on YouTube

Newsletters | Ark Media | Amit Segal | Nadav Eyal

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Dan Senor & Saul Singer’s book, The Genius of Israel

Get in touch

Credits: Ilan Benatar, Adaam James Levin-Areddy, Brittany Cohen, Ava Weiner, Martin Huergo, Mariangeles Burgos, and Yuval Semo

For the full episode, subscribe here to Inside Call me Back.

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This is a sneak peek from the members-only edition of Inside Call me Back. Dan addresses a listener's question about Gadi Eisenkot's political appeal and whether the qualities Israelis look for in a prime minister are the same ones valued by Diaspora Jews. 

You can access the full episode here, where Dan takes on listener questions about:

- What should Trump do next on Iran?

- Will Rachel Goldberg-Polin return for another holiday episode?

- Is there still hope for Arab and Haredi integration in Israel?

- Why the Haredi draft exemption is reaching a breaking point

- Could Arab or Haredi parties decide Israel’s next government?

More Ark Media:

Want to join Ark Media? Check out our careers page for new openings.

Explore Israel Votes

Listen to For Heaven's Sake

Listen to What’s Your Number?

Watch Call me Back on YouTube

Newsletters | Ark Media | Amit Segal | Nadav Eyal

Instagram | Ark Media | Dan

X | Dan

Dan Senor & Saul Singer’s book, The Genius of Israel

Get in touch

Credits: Ilan Benatar, Brittany Cohen, Ava Weiner, Martin Huergo, Mariangeles Burgos, and Yuval Semo

Subscribe to Inside Call me Back.

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Subscribe to Ark News Daily

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Can the Black-Jewish alliance be repaired, or is it irreparable?

Coleman Hughes, host of The Coleman Hughes Show at The Free Press and author of The End of Race Politics, joins Dan to trace the history of one of America’s most important political coalitions, and how it began to unravel. He looks at the forces behind that shift, from old neighborhood tensions and the Nation of Islam to campus politics and a worldview that treats America and the West as uniquely guilty. And - if the old alliance cannot simply be recreated, what would a healthier path forward actually require?

Coleman's essay on Sapir: https://sapirjournal.org/friends-and-foes/2024/black-radicalism/

Coleman's Book: https://www.amazon.com/End-Race-Politics-Arguments-Colorblind/dp/0593332458

Coleman's podcast: https://www.thefp.com/listen/conversations-with-coleman

In this episode:

- How Black and Jewish Americans became allies

- The tensions inside the civil rights alliance

- James Baldwin’s theory of Black antisemitism

- Why Baldwin’s explanation falls short

- Nation of Islam, Farrakhan, and hip-hop

- Jewish success and the resentment problem

- October 7th and the campus view of Israel

- BLM, allyship, and whether repair is possible

More Ark Media:

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Explore Israel Votes

Listen to For Heaven's Sake

Listen to What’s Your Number?

Watch Call me Back on YouTube

Newsletters | Ark Media | Amit Segal | Nadav Eyal

Instagram | Ark Media | Dan

X | Dan

Dan Senor & Saul Singer’s book, The Genius of Israel

Get in touch

Credits: Ilan Benatar, Brittany Cohen, Ava Weiner, Martin Huergo, Mariangeles Burgos, and Yuval Semo

Subscribe to Inside Call me Back.

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If Trump signs an interim deal with Iran, what leverage is left to dismantle Iran's nuclear program?

As reports swirl around a possible U.S.-Iran agreement, Dan  sits down with Nadav Eyal and Mark Dubowitz to sort through what’s actually on the table — and what could unravel next. The conversation centers around the core dilemmas facing Washington, Jerusalem, and the Gulf: whether this moment represents strategic containment of Iran or the beginning of a slow retreat from the leverage created by the war.

They debate the risks of a “Hormuz for Hormuz” deal, the future of Iran’s nuclear stockpile, the limits of economic pressure, and whether the military gains can survive a prolonged diplomatic pause. Hovering over the entire conversation is a deeper question: after months of escalation, what would victory look like now?

In this episode:

- What’s Actually in the Emerging U.S.-Iran Deal

- The “Hormuz for Hormuz” Tradeoff

- Iran’s Uranium Stockpile

- Could Trump Sustain Military and Economic Pressure?

- The Gulf States’ Interests

- Hezbollah, Lebanon, and the Axis of Resistance

- What Israelis Think of The Deal

- Will This Be Remembered as a Turning Point — or the Moment the West Blinked?

More Ark Media:

Want to join Ark Media? Check out our careers page for new openings.

Explore Israel Votes

Listen to For Heaven's Sake

Listen to What’s Your Number?

Watch Call me Back on YouTube

Newsletters | Ark Media | Amit Segal | Nadav Eyal

Instagram | Ark Media | Dan

X | Dan

Dan Senor & Saul Singer’s book, The Genius of Israel

Get in touch

Credits: Ilan Benatar, Brittany Cohen, Ava Weiner, Martin Huergo, Mariangeles Burgos, and Yuval Semo